Ukraine deports two Israeli pilgrims

03.10.2011, 13:49
Two Israeli citizens have been deported from Ukraine for violating the laws, Senior Inspector Volodymyr Umanets from the Department for Citizenship, Immigration and Registration of Individuals at the Interior Ministry Directorate for Cherkasy region told journalists in Uman on Friday.

Two Israeli citizens have been deported from Ukraine for violating the laws, Senior Inspector Volodymyr Umanets from the Department for Citizenship, Immigration and Registration of Individuals at the Interior Ministry Directorate for Cherkasy region told journalists in Uman on Friday.

They were detained for driving a car while being drunk, without documents, and offering resistance during an identity check, he said.

A decision is also due on whether four more Israeli pilgrims, who violated the Ukrainian laws, should be deported.

Automobile inspectors at a stationary post stopped a car driven by an Israeli citizen, said Ihor Lahoda, deputy chief of the regional department of the State Automobile Inspectorate (GAI). The inspection revealed that alcohol in the driver's blood was five times the acceptable levels.

Inspectors at another GAI stationary post stopped a car with a foreign license plate, also driven by an Israeli citizen. It was established during a document check that the man was driving the vehicle without registration documents and driving license.

Police drew up the administrative reports and sent them to the Uman town court. After that, a decision was made regarding the deportation.

Currently, 450 police officers are providing law and order in Uman during the presence of a record number of Israeli pilgrims in the town.

Every autumn pilgrims travel to Uman to celebrate the Jewish New Year on the grave of their spiritual leader Nachman who was born in Medzhybizh (now Khmelnitsky district of Ukraine) in 1772, roamed around Ukraine and spent many years in Breslov (now Belarus). In 1808 Rabbi Nachman contracted TB, settled in Uman where he died and was buried in 1810. Since then the town has become a center of pilgrimage for Hasidic Jews from around the world.